15th Anniversary

Mike and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary this month. We took a quick weekend trip to San Diego. We enjoyed driving down by the Harbor, going to Point Loma, and visiting Sea World. It was a relaxing trip. Here's a few pictures:

Women of the Book of Mormon by Heather B. Moore

I was priviledged to read "Women of the Book of Mormon" by Heather B. Moore. The thing that struck me as I read this non-fiction book was the overwhelming feeling of strength exuded by the women she speaks of. The first woman she talks about is our first mother, Eve.

Her story is so significant that Lehi refers to it a few times in the Book of Mormon. She was an example to the women of that time. Women, who didn’t have a very high standing in their society, could find strength in knowing that Eve made the most important decision this world has ever known.
Quoting from Heather’s Book:
One of the universal truths taught time and time again has been
that there must be “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11), and
that the existence of the human family was dependent on choosing.
The prophet Lehi knew Eve’s choice was courageous and that it led
to freeing the powers of life (see 2 Nephi 2:11–13). To understand
Eve is to understand her decision. Of all the events in the history
of mankind, the Fall single-handedly “affected the entire earth and
everyone in the human family”29 in one of the most powerful ways. In
essence, we might think of Eve as a heroine, and that “Eve’s supreme
gift to mankind, the opportunity of life on this earth, resulted from
her choice to become mortal.”30
Eve understood the consequence of eating the fruit. She knew it
was correct and that it would lead to further knowledge (see Moses
4:13).31 In fact, “when [Eve] saw that the tree was good for food,”
the word saw was akin to God’s “acts of seeing,” meaning that in that
instant, Eve had godlike clarity (Moses 4:12).32
Eve knew a hard decision had to be made and she did it. We too have her strength to make the hard decisions. The world would have us think that we can make choices and they only affect us. But Eve has taught us, that though our choices probably won’t affect the world for the next thousands of years, our choices do have widespread effects. Not only that, but most of us have the same gift to "see" what needs to be done in our lives. I think most of us have had the experience of not knowing an answer, then after much prayer and thought we suddenly "know" what we have to do even when it's a difficult path we will be choosing to take. This is only a piece of the legacy of women that we can learn of as we read this book. It inspires you to read more of the book of mormon and more of what the prophets have said about these great women. It definately left me feeling empowered and strong.

This book comes out the beginning of April. It would make a great Mother's Day gift as it gives the gift of inspiration and the strength of women.